From the Bride… We knew we wanted to have a beach wedding because my husband’s sister and brother-in-law had just finished building a second home in Alys Beach. We visited once while we were still dating and fell in love with the emerald coast! Mike proposed to me on 1/1/10 on the same beach we were married on. We wanted to use the private beach for the ceremony and their house for the reception. We chose a simple and modern style to the wedding day and to keep the guest list intimate (45 people). We chose all white flowers because we like the simplicity and thought it was a nice contrast to all the beautiful tones of the beach and reception location. The colors of the wedding were white, teal and chocolate.

This was my second marriage and my husband’s first marriage. My daughter, Esther Soriano, is in some of the pictures. She’s 4 1/2 and was the flower girl. She sat in the first row during the ceremony and we included her by having my husband say a vow directly to her just before we exchanged our rings. It said: “Esther, I wasn’t there when you took your first steps, but I promise you that I will continue to love and support you in every step that you take in your life. This necklace is a symbol of that promise to you. ”

I did several DIY projects. The biggest labor of love were our invitations that I made 100% from scratch. The other DIY project I really enjoyed were little “tears of joy” tissue packets. We used those in place of programs since it was a very simple ceremony that lasted about 20 minutes. The groom’s sister has a courtyard area with a pool and we used a wall behind the pool to display a slideshow to music that I put together and we displayed just before our first dance.

Our cake was one area I was particularly proud of. We didn’t have it in the budget to have a really expensive cake and had trouble finding a reliable cake vendor. I kept joking with my husband that I was going to order a Publix sheet cake if the quote for the cake was more than my dress cost. Well, after our cake baker flaked on us, I pulled up the Publix website and realized their bakery did do cakes and deliver them. My wedding planner gave them the design I wanted and had them frost it and then I had my florist add the fresh flowers to my cake. It was a huge cost savings over purchasing a cake from a person who specializes in wedding cakes, but it was absolutely delicious and everyone raved about the cake.

The mustang in several of the photos belongs to my husband’s brother and sister-in-law. They have pictures in the car from when they were married 25 years ago. They kept the car for many years and recently restored it. We felt very honored to use it on our wedding day!